Title: Take a Dip: The Water in our Lives Grade level: 6th grade Course: Earth Science
Lesson Overview:
The Take a Dip Project is an Internet-based multidisciplinary project sponsored by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology. The main purpose of this project is to make a general determination about the water quality of a fresh water body, compare the data collected by all project participants, and look for relationships, trends, similarities, and differences. To do so, we will conduct a variety of water sampling tests to analyze physical and chemical substances commonly found in a fresh water body. We will then compare our findings with other participating classes.
Basically, students will be sampling the water quality in the pond behind their school. Specifically, they will sample the water quality in the pond and research what organisms can be found in there. They will then go online and share as well as compare their results with other students participating in this program. By participating in this project, students will have an opportunity to interact with experts online, use a discussion board to discuss project-related topics, and publish their own work to this project web site.
Learning Performances:
This project has Five (5) Core Activities that will teach students how to apply the knowledge and thinking skills of science and technology to explain Real-World Phenomena.
Specifically, students will:
Assess the quality of water based on physical characteristics and chemical substances
Identify and compare organisms in a water sample with other participating classes and assess the quality of water based on macroscopic life found in the water
Look for relationships, trends, similarities, and differences among the data collected by all project participants
Draw conclusions based on raw data from the Internet
Have the opportunity to interact with other students from around the world and study their geographic location, environment, and culture
There will be five core activities for this lesson. Each of the five core activities are designed to be used in a 45 minute class period. Additionally, two separate visits to the fresh water sampling body will be conducted, one prior to beginning this project and one to complete Activity 3: Complete the Water Sampling Tests. These visits will be conducted as a field trip with the entire class.
The Five Core Activities for this lesson are:
Lesson 1: DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS
Lesson 2 : INTRODUCE THE CLASS (To the online discussion area)
Lesson 3 : COMPLETE THE WATER SAMPLING TESTS
Lesson 4 : ANALYZE THE RESULTS
Lesson 5: DRAW YOUR CONCLUSIONS
Links to National Science Education Standards:
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding about scientific inquiry.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of population and ecosystems.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of diversity and adaptations of organisms.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of change, constancy and measurement.
small containers for separating samples for study (baby food jars, petri dishes, ice cube trays etc.)
magnifying lenses
rulers
macroinvertebrate identification keys
nitrate-nitrogen test kit
bottle with closable lid (2)
phosphate test kit
Time Required:
Five 45 minute class periods for each of the five core activities
Instructional Sequence
Introducing the lesson:
I will begin the class by explaing the purpose of the lesson to the students. I will tell them that we are going on this exciting "adventure". I will explain how we are going to find out the quality of water in our very own pond (which is on the school grounds and the students are familiar with it). We will have a class discussion on the importance of clean water and how important it is for certain organisms that live in our pond. Hopefully the students will feel personally motivated to determine the water quality after I inform them about some of the fun creatures living in "their" pond. I will explain the exciting project for them. They will be informed that we're going to be using some water test samples to determine the purity of the water. We will also be using nets and containers to catch and examine all the creatures living in it. In addition, students will find out that they can go online and post all of their results there and be able to compare their pond's water quality to ponds all over the country. This will hopefully make them interested and excited about this project. Lastly, I will tell them that we can post pictures and all of our results under our class and school name for everybody to see, so we better do a really great job in collecting the samples and testing the water.
Instructional activities:
#1 The first core activity will be to Design a Hypothesis about our pond quality. I will begin this lesson by engaging the students in a whole class discussion in trying to come up with a mutual hypothesis. I will also inform them that we will be posting this hypothesis online and at the end of this project we will be revisiting the hypothesis and drawing our final conclusions. In trying to come up with the first scientific inquiry requiriyng step, the hypothesis, I will ask the students the following questions:
Do you think our pond water is of good or poor quality? Why?
Do you think the water quality will be better in some areas of the world or worse? Why?
Are the organisms found in the water the same all over the worlds? Why or why not?
#2 The second core activity will be to Introduce Our Class to the online discussion area. I will begin this lesson/activity by including all the students in writing a letter about us. First, I will ask the students for all the important information that needs to be included in the letter and then I will write all that information on the board. I will then tell them that I will be typing this up and posting it online. The letter will include:
Name of school and grade level of class
Location of school, including: city, state, country, latitude and longitude (so students can use the map to pin- point locations)
Our initial hypothesis about our pond
Any additional information that the students might want to include (fun facts about our class, school etc.)
#3 The third core activity will be to Complete the Water Sampling Tests. Prior to going out to the pond with the students, I will explain the purpose of this activity to them again. I will tell them that the reason for sampling the water is to provide them with enough information to make a general determination of our pond water quality. I will then inform the students of all the great tests that we are going to perform once we get to the pond. The following tests will be formed:
General Observations of the pond water
Temperature
pH
Dissolved Oxygen
Macroinvertebrates living in the pond
Nitrates
Phosphates
Once we reach the pond, I will distribute all the necessary materials to the students and go over specific instructions once more (by this point, the students have already been informed once about how to take samples and test the water). We will then spend some time at the pond and perform all the necessary water quality tests. In addition, we will collect as many macroinvertebrates as we can and bring some back to the classroom for further investigation. I will also have the Macroinvertebrate Identification Key with me at the pond. I will use this to help identify any fun creatures that the kids will be finding from the pond.
#4 Our fourth core activity is to Analyze the Results of our tests and collections. In this activity, we will complete the following five categories:
Analyzing the Test Kit's Results
A. What was the water temperature?
B. What was the pH level? Was it in the acceptable range for good water quality?
C. What was Dissolved Oxygen level? Did it fall into the acceptble range for good water quality?
D. Based on the above tests, would you consider the water quality to be GOOD/FAIR/POOR?
Analyzing the Macroinvertebrate Results
A. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the SENSITIVE to pollution range?
B. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the SOMEWHAT pollution tolerant?
C. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the TOLERANT to pollution range?
D. Based on the type and amount of macroinvertebrates you found, would you consider the water quality to be GOOD/FAIR/POOR?
Synthesizing the Results
A. In order to survive, do you think a macroinvertebrate that is SENSITIVE to pollution prefers higher or lower levels of Oxygen in the water? Why?
B. How would this be different for macroinvertebrates that are SOMEWHAT pollution tolerant? and TOLERANT to pollution? Why?
C. Keeping these answers in mind, does the Dissolved Oxygen data you collected support the types and amount of macroinvertebrates you found?
D. Can you make a water quality determination based on the test kit data and the macroinvertebrates you found? Please explain your answer.
Making a General Water Quality Determination
Using both the test kit data results and the macroinvertebrate analysis, would you rate the tested fresh water body to be GOOD/GOOD to FAIR/FAIR/FAIR to POOR/POOR?
Submitting the Results
We will submit our water sampling data online to the Project Data section on the web site.
#5 Our fifth and last core activity is to Draw our Conclusions. In this activity, we will submit one Final Report to the Project Discussion Area on the web site. Basically, this report should explain what the students have learned from the project. In addition, it will be necessary to revisit our original hypothesis and decide whether or not the information we determined from the previous activities supports or does not support the hypothesis.
Concluding the lesson:
To conclude the lesson, I will ask the whole class to gather around in a big circle. I would then restate our initial hypothesis before we began the project. I will then begin a whole-class discussion about all the activities that we performed. I will allow plenty of time for any student comments,opinions, likes/dislikes of this project. Lastly, I would ask the students if our initial hypothesis was proved or disproved by our sampling. Finally, I would visit the National Science Standards and the Student Performance outcomes sections of this project. I would do a quick oral assessment to see if the class was able to perform up to the standards and to see if anyone was confused about anything and if anyone needs any clarifications before dismissing the class.
Assessing student understanding:
Students will be assessed by both the formative and summative assessments. As a formative assessment, I will continuously monitor students' understanding of the activities. Throughout each of the five activities, I will check in with the students and look over their worksheets. This will provide me with an opportunity to correct any misconceptions the students might have. Also, by continuously checking their work, I can be sure that they are following this project correctly and that we are all on the same page.
Also, I will use more of a formal assessment after each completed activity as well. For activity#1, Developing a Hypothesis, students' participation in this activity will be used for assessment. Students whose hypotheses are thorough, based on scientific facts, AND identify the problems, will receive the highest grade. Conversely, students who won't write anything down will receive a zero. I will grade all the "in-between" hypotheses accordingly. For activity#2, Introducing the Class, I will assess the students based on their participation in this activity. For activity#3, Completing the Water Sampling Tests, I will ask the students to create a species fact sheet about one of the macroinvertebrates that they will find. I will assess the students again based on their participation and based on the amount of information on the fact sheet. For activity#4, Analyzing the Results, I will present some extension follow-up questions and assess the students based on participation in the discussion. Some of the questions may be:
Are any of your results not what you expected them to be? Which ones? Explain your reasoning.
Is there a relationship between Dissolved Oxygen levels and the types of plants, animal, or other organisms you observed in the water? If so, describe the relationship.
Do you think that your water source is a good environment for organisms to survive based on pH levels? Why or why not?
For activity#5, Drawing the Conclusions, I can use the students' final reports for assessment. My evaluation will be based on how complete and accurate the answers are and if they reflect an understanding of the lesson concepts.
As a summative assessment, I will ask the students to write a comprehensive essey upon completion of this project. It will not be terribly cmplicated. I will ask them something like: Please describe all the activities that we completed in determining the quality of our pond water. Be sure to also include any organisms that you found in the water. Also, make sure that you use scientific language (the use of appropriate vocabulary is necessary).
Cautions:
There will not be anything extremely dangerous in this project. However, some of the precautions to take are the following:
Students need to take care in not falling into the pond while collecting their water/organism samples
Appropriate instructions will be given tot he students about handling the sampling kits (wouldn't want the to break any of the glass tubes and hurt themselves)
Students will be advised to take special care when transferring the organisms into smaller containers (wouldn't want any of the little bugs/fish to die when being transferred)
Students will be advised to work carefully around the pond and be responsible with the equipment that's provided to them (they must return all the needed materials back to me at the end of each activity)
Sources:
The idea for this lesson came from my middle school CT. She has used a similar lesson before with great success. Most of the information included in this lesson came from the following web site: Take a Dip: The Water in our Lives. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from CIESE Collaborative Projects Web site: http://www.k12science.org
In the article Using Tecnology to Support Inquiry in Middle School Science by Novak and Krajcik, a similar water project is described. In the project described in this article, the middle school students also use portable technology as scientific instruments to carry out the investigation on their water body.
Based on my reading of this article, my rationale for this inquiry based project is to introduce students to scientific concepts, technology tools (various water testing kits), and the process of inquiry (beginning with the initial hypothesis and ending with the final conclusions). Also, collaboration is introduced to the students. To work effectively on this project as "scientists", students will have to work in small groups and learn to collaborate on their investigation. In addition, the students will develop an understanding about concepts in chemistry (pH, dissolved oxygen etc.), earth science, and ecology through the process of inquiry. Some concepts in this project include: water quality, water-quality testing, pollution, pH, and macroscopic life. To aid the students in accomplishing all this goals, certain technological tools will be provided to them (different water testing kits, pH scale etc.)
According to Novak and Krajcik, one of the main benefits of using portable technology is that "students are provided with scientific tools that empower them to collect and analyze data much like real scientists."
Lastly, according to Novak and Krajcik, "collecting field data helps our students to gain ownership of their work."
This set of activities is very promising. I like the idea of adapting materials developed in the national Centers such as the one at Stevens. Good choice. I also like the way you connected your rationale for this set of activities with the Novak and Krajcik reading. I know that project well (Ann Novak was my daughter's seventh grade science teacher) and I was impressed with what the students were able to do by the end of the project.
Standards / Learning Performances
You link the lesson to topics in the national standards, but only state them in term of understandings. You should go a little deeper into the subtopics in the relevant standards. Since we are interested students developing deep understandings, what do you expect students to do with what they understand?
Is it clear that the lesson addresses both important content and scientific practices?
I think is clear, but I also think that the way you are describing the lesson in your plan you have de-emphasized the science students need to understand in order understand what they are doing at the pond.
Instructional Activities
What science practices are required?
There is ample opportunities for organizing procedures, collecting and sharing data, and analyzing data to draw conclusions.
How are the science practices supported?
You have the materials from the Center. How will you support your students understanding each of the varous tests? In the Novak project, students spend a lot of class time understanding the importance of the various tests, how the probes worked etc. This was not mentioned in your plans. I think that each of these activities could culminate (and make authentic) a lot of in-class learning.
Title: Take a Dip: The Water in our Lives
Grade level: 6th grade
Course: Earth Science
Lesson Overview:
The Take a Dip Project is an Internet-based multidisciplinary project sponsored by the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology. The main purpose of this project is to make a general determination about the water quality of a fresh water body, compare the data collected by all project participants, and look for relationships, trends, similarities, and differences. To do so, we will conduct a variety of water sampling tests to analyze physical and chemical substances commonly found in a fresh water body. We will then compare our findings with other participating classes.
Basically, students will be sampling the water quality in the pond behind their school. Specifically, they will sample the water quality in the pond and research what organisms can be found in there. They will then go online and share as well as compare their results with other students participating in this program. By participating in this project, students will have an opportunity to interact with experts online, use a discussion board to discuss project-related topics, and publish their own work to this project web site.
Learning Performances:
This project has Five (5) Core Activities that will teach students how to apply the knowledge and thinking skills of science and technology to explain Real-World Phenomena.
Specifically, students will:
There will be five core activities for this lesson. Each of the five core activities are designed to be used in a 45 minute class period. Additionally, two separate visits to the fresh water sampling body will be conducted, one prior to beginning this project and one to complete Activity 3: Complete the Water Sampling Tests. These visits will be conducted as a field trip with the entire class.
The Five Core Activities for this lesson are:
Lesson 1: DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS
Lesson 2 : INTRODUCE THE CLASS (To the online discussion area)
Lesson 3 : COMPLETE THE WATER SAMPLING TESTS
Lesson 4 : ANALYZE THE RESULTS
Lesson 5: DRAW YOUR CONCLUSIONS
Links to National Science Education Standards:
Materials Needed:
Time Required:
Five 45 minute class periods for each of the five core activities
Instructional Sequence
Introducing the lesson:
I will begin the class by explaing the purpose of the lesson to the students. I will tell them that we are going on this exciting "adventure". I will explain how we are going to find out the quality of water in our very own pond (which is on the school grounds and the students are familiar with it). We will have a class discussion on the importance of clean water and how important it is for certain organisms that live in our pond. Hopefully the students will feel personally motivated to determine the water quality after I inform them about some of the fun creatures living in "their" pond. I will explain the exciting project for them. They will be informed that we're going to be using some water test samples to determine the purity of the water. We will also be using nets and containers to catch and examine all the creatures living in it. In addition, students will find out that they can go online and post all of their results there and be able to compare their pond's water quality to ponds all over the country. This will hopefully make them interested and excited about this project. Lastly, I will tell them that we can post pictures and all of our results under our class and school name for everybody to see, so we better do a really great job in collecting the samples and testing the water.
Instructional activities:
#1 The first core activity will be to Design a Hypothesis about our pond quality. I will begin this lesson by engaging the students in a whole class discussion in trying to come up with a mutual hypothesis. I will also inform them that we will be posting this hypothesis online and at the end of this project we will be revisiting the hypothesis and drawing our final conclusions. In trying to come up with the first scientific inquiry requiriyng step, the hypothesis, I will ask the students the following questions:
#2 The second core activity will be to Introduce Our Class to the online discussion area. I will begin this lesson/activity by including all the students in writing a letter about us. First, I will ask the students for all the important information that needs to be included in the letter and then I will write all that information on the board. I will then tell them that I will be typing this up and posting it online. The letter will include:
#3 The third core activity will be to Complete the Water Sampling Tests. Prior to going out to the pond with the students, I will explain the purpose of this activity to them again. I will tell them that the reason for sampling the water is to provide them with enough information to make a general determination of our pond water quality. I will then inform the students of all the great tests that we are going to perform once we get to the pond. The following tests will be formed:
Once we reach the pond, I will distribute all the necessary materials to the students and go over specific instructions once more (by this point, the students have already been informed once about how to take samples and test the water). We will then spend some time at the pond and perform all the necessary water quality tests. In addition, we will collect as many macroinvertebrates as we can and bring some back to the classroom for further investigation. I will also have the Macroinvertebrate Identification Key with me at the pond. I will use this to help identify any fun creatures that the kids will be finding from the pond.
#4 Our fourth core activity is to Analyze the Results of our tests and collections. In this activity, we will complete the following five categories:
A. What was the water temperature?
B. What was the pH level? Was it in the acceptable range for good water quality?
C. What was Dissolved Oxygen level? Did it fall into the acceptble range for good water quality?
D. Based on the above tests, would you consider the water quality to be GOOD/FAIR/POOR?
A. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the SENSITIVE to pollution range?
B. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the SOMEWHAT pollution tolerant?
C. How many macroinvertebrates did you find in the TOLERANT to pollution range?
D. Based on the type and amount of macroinvertebrates you found, would you consider the water quality to be GOOD/FAIR/POOR?
A. In order to survive, do you think a macroinvertebrate that is SENSITIVE to pollution prefers higher or lower levels of Oxygen in the water? Why?
B. How would this be different for macroinvertebrates that are SOMEWHAT pollution tolerant? and TOLERANT to pollution? Why?
C. Keeping these answers in mind, does the Dissolved Oxygen data you collected support the types and amount of macroinvertebrates you found?
D. Can you make a water quality determination based on the test kit data and the macroinvertebrates you found? Please explain your answer.
Using both the test kit data results and the macroinvertebrate analysis, would you rate the tested fresh water body to be GOOD/GOOD to FAIR/FAIR/FAIR to POOR/POOR?
We will submit our water sampling data online to the Project Data section on the web site.
#5 Our fifth and last core activity is to Draw our Conclusions. In this activity, we will submit one Final Report to the Project Discussion Area on the web site. Basically, this report should explain what the students have learned from the project. In addition, it will be necessary to revisit our original hypothesis and decide whether or not the information we determined from the previous activities supports or does not support the hypothesis.
Concluding the lesson:
To conclude the lesson, I will ask the whole class to gather around in a big circle. I would then restate our initial hypothesis before we began the project. I will then begin a whole-class discussion about all the activities that we performed. I will allow plenty of time for any student comments,opinions, likes/dislikes of this project. Lastly, I would ask the students if our initial hypothesis was proved or disproved by our sampling. Finally, I would visit the National Science Standards and the Student Performance outcomes sections of this project. I would do a quick oral assessment to see if the class was able to perform up to the standards and to see if anyone was confused about anything and if anyone needs any clarifications before dismissing the class.
Assessing student understanding:
Students will be assessed by both the formative and summative assessments. As a formative assessment, I will continuously monitor students' understanding of the activities. Throughout each of the five activities, I will check in with the students and look over their worksheets. This will provide me with an opportunity to correct any misconceptions the students might have. Also, by continuously checking their work, I can be sure that they are following this project correctly and that we are all on the same page.
Also, I will use more of a formal assessment after each completed activity as well. For activity#1, Developing a Hypothesis, students' participation in this activity will be used for assessment. Students whose hypotheses are thorough, based on scientific facts, AND identify the problems, will receive the highest grade. Conversely, students who won't write anything down will receive a zero. I will grade all the "in-between" hypotheses accordingly. For activity#2, Introducing the Class, I will assess the students based on their participation in this activity. For activity#3, Completing the Water Sampling Tests, I will ask the students to create a species fact sheet about one of the macroinvertebrates that they will find. I will assess the students again based on their participation and based on the amount of information on the fact sheet. For activity#4, Analyzing the Results, I will present some extension follow-up questions and assess the students based on participation in the discussion. Some of the questions may be:
- Are any of your results not what you expected them to be? Which ones? Explain your reasoning.
- Is there a relationship between Dissolved Oxygen levels and the types of plants, animal, or other organisms you observed in the water? If so, describe the relationship.
- Do you think that your water source is a good environment for organisms to survive based on pH levels? Why or why not?
For activity#5, Drawing the Conclusions, I can use the students' final reports for assessment. My evaluation will be based on how complete and accurate the answers are and if they reflect an understanding of the lesson concepts.As a summative assessment, I will ask the students to write a comprehensive essey upon completion of this project. It will not be terribly cmplicated. I will ask them something like: Please describe all the activities that we completed in determining the quality of our pond water. Be sure to also include any organisms that you found in the water. Also, make sure that you use scientific language (the use of appropriate vocabulary is necessary).
Cautions:
There will not be anything extremely dangerous in this project. However, some of the precautions to take are the following:
Sources:
The idea for this lesson came from my middle school CT. She has used a similar lesson before with great success. Most of the information included in this lesson came from the following web site: Take a Dip: The Water in our Lives. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from CIESE Collaborative Projects Web site: http://www.k12science.org
Teaching Resources:
1.
2.
3.
4. http://www.k12science.org
Rationale:
In the article Using Tecnology to Support Inquiry in Middle School Science by Novak and Krajcik, a similar water project is described. In the project described in this article, the middle school students also use portable technology as scientific instruments to carry out the investigation on their water body.
Based on my reading of this article, my rationale for this inquiry based project is to introduce students to scientific concepts, technology tools (various water testing kits), and the process of inquiry (beginning with the initial hypothesis and ending with the final conclusions). Also, collaboration is introduced to the students. To work effectively on this project as "scientists", students will have to work in small groups and learn to collaborate on their investigation. In addition, the students will develop an understanding about concepts in chemistry (pH, dissolved oxygen etc.), earth science, and ecology through the process of inquiry. Some concepts in this project include: water quality, water-quality testing, pollution, pH, and macroscopic life. To aid the students in accomplishing all this goals, certain technological tools will be provided to them (different water testing kits, pH scale etc.)
According to Novak and Krajcik, one of the main benefits of using portable technology is that "students are provided with scientific tools that empower them to collect and analyze data much like real scientists."
Lastly, according to Novak and Krajcik, "collecting field data helps our students to gain ownership of their work."
Inquiry Lesson Feedback: Kerly W
Evaluated by: Jay F.Score: 9/10
This set of activities is very promising. I like the idea of adapting materials developed in the national Centers such as the one at Stevens. Good choice. I also like the way you connected your rationale for this set of activities with the Novak and Krajcik reading. I know that project well (Ann Novak was my daughter's seventh grade science teacher) and I was impressed with what the students were able to do by the end of the project.
Standards / Learning Performances
You link the lesson to topics in the national standards, but only state them in term of understandings. You should go a little deeper into the subtopics in the relevant standards. Since we are interested students developing deep understandings, what do you expect students to do with what they understand?
Is it clear that the lesson addresses both important content and scientific practices?
I think is clear, but I also think that the way you are describing the lesson in your plan you have de-emphasized the science students need to understand in order understand what they are doing at the pond.Instructional Activities
What science practices are required?
There is ample opportunities for organizing procedures, collecting and sharing data, and analyzing data to draw conclusions.How are the science practices supported?
You have the materials from the Center. How will you support your students understanding each of the varous tests? In the Novak project, students spend a lot of class time understanding the importance of the various tests, how the probes worked etc. This was not mentioned in your plans. I think that each of these activities could culminate (and make authentic) a lot of in-class learning.How are the science practices assessed?
You have several assessment ideas and materials.